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Patricia, a prominent Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange has made negative headlines in recent months and it does not look as if the troubled company is getting any positive publicity anytime soon. The latest development on Wednesday revealed that the exchange has deserted and locked down its office in Lagos.
According to <a href="https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMj4QRqup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">footage</a> posted by a TikTok user identified as @bunznahn404, workers have deserted the building that houses the Patricia office in Lagos. According to what could be heard in the video, the user confirmed from the security guard that no worker had shown up in the visibly empty apartment in weeks/months.
Also, the TikTok user warned users to try getting their money out of Glover, another financial technology company since Hanu Fejiro who is the founder and CEO of Patricia also owns Glover.
<h4 id="backstory-of-the-embattled-crypto-exchange" data-beyondwords-marker="f9d8b366-8752-4708-aeef-f3b3025fbd20">Backstory of the embattled crypto exchange</h4>
In May, Patricia disabled withdrawal features for customers and controversial takes and remarks have expectedly followed. Subsequently, the embattled firm released a <a href="https://twitter.com/patriciaswitch/status/1669638553427476483?s=46&amp;t=jqcaUeCNyLKSkEd-Vi7PKg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">video</a> where its CEO, Hanu Fejiro, gave a brief overview of the company’s challenges. The company reportedly suffered a million-dollar breach which is the cause of the current crisis.
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 <figure class="aligncenter size-full" data-beyondwords-marker="4b08c9a5-e75e-47fd-beff-176832039225"><img width="2048" height="1366" src="https://technext24.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/F5D5DA32-7FDF-43D3-A791-6ED93EF3A4CF.jpeg" alt="Hanu Fejiro at Technext Coinference 2.0" class="wp-image-159397">
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Following that, Hanu Fejiro released a <a href="https://mypatricia.co/resources/blog/patricia-token-white-paper?fbclid=PAAaaGv4ic0QUR235Hiecmz6Xgredw8Y52vE8rmFVyng-ztE5F_JQrczRR08U_aem_AUm0P6LQiPrI6WYfMSgkRe6chhI9-3JHWmChnQePrAT3YBwTmarHsRjXMb0fJWju3gc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">statement</a> announcing a Patricia Stablecoin in August. At the time, the CEO said the Token is not a stable coin but a debt token, issued to customers to manage users’ debt.
“All customers’ funds would be accounted for 1:1, pegged to a stable coin, USDT. We would be redeeming these debt tokens from our customers monthly.” Hanu Fejiro said.
Related post: <a href="https://technext24.com/2023/08/25/patricia-says-token-debt-not-stablecoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$PTK is a debt token, not a stablecoin -Patricia clears the air</a>
The token was said to be an internal token that serves as a debt management token for affected assets lost during the security breach that the exchange suffered.&nbsp;
No significant update since August until this week when Techpoint Africa reported that the crypto exchange is now begging a customer to turn owed funds to company shares.
According to the Techpoint Africa <a href="https://techpoint.africa/2023/10/17/patricia-begs-customer-to-turn-owed-funds-to-company-shares/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">report</a>, Patricia gave a customer the option to convert their balance into Patricia shares. According to a recording a particular Abraham Nelson shared with the tech media, the unnamed company representative said:
“We have found investors but this is the only thing keeping us. This is the best we can do right now. It is most likely our last resort. We just need your cooperation.”
Per the Techpoint Africa report, Nelson asked if he would still be able to get access to his funds when they have been converted to shares and the representative said:
“You can rest assured that you’ll get your money.”
No official confirmation from Patricia on this development yet.
<h4 id="what-is-next" data-beyondwords-marker="598fc0a1-ff4e-4a79-b8b4-2370ec9845e4">What is next?</h4>
It is now over six months since customers last withdrew funds from the Patricia exchange and frustrations over the issue continue to mount.&nbsp; 
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 <figure class="aligncenter size-full" data-beyondwords-marker="b4630b58-49fd-46a8-ba5b-7e0c425c5c76"><img width="512" height="250" src="https://technext24.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Patricia-2.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-124657" srcset="https://technext24.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Patricia-2.jpeg 512w, https://technext24.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Patricia-2-300x146.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px">
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 Nigerian fintech, Patricia recently suffered a security breach
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Read also: <a href="https://technext24.com/2023/08/03/seun-dania-why-i-invested-in-patricia/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Seun Dania: “Why I invested in Patricia”</a>
Customers proceeded to show their agitations all over social media and elsewhere, exemplified by the users who went to the company’s physical address to confirm Patricia’s absence.
Happenings like these continue to erode trust and transparency in the crypto ecosystem and one can only hope the issues are resolved and customer funds are released.
We reached out to Patricia for clarification on these concerns but we didn’t receive any response at the time of publication.

Crypto exchange Patricia reportedly abandons its Lagos office as its woes worsen

Technext.ng

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